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Friday,
June 20
Posted
2 p.m.
Gas stations
drop cards
Here's a petroleum-made product
that isn't being found at many
gas stations these days: credit
cards. I wrote last week about
many of the gas stations around
the Palm Beach, Fla., area offering
a lower price for cash so that
the station owners can avoid
paying the credit card interchange
fee, which is about 2 percent
of a sale. But the interchange
fee increases as the cost of
the purchase increases.
Today the Associated
Press is reporting the trend
of gas stations not accepting
credit cards because of the
high fees they have to pay.
The article quotes a spokesman
for the National Retail Federation,
a hard critic of the interchange
fees, making good sense:
"We have always contended
that it doesn't cost Visa
and MasterCard any more to
process a $1,000 transaction
than it does a $100 transaction,"
said J. Craig Shearman, vice
president of government affairs
at the retail federation.
Of course, MasterCard and Visa
counter that the benefits of
accepting credit cards are worth
the fee.
These days, though, if you
can shave off a few pennies
a gallon, you'll drive a little
farther to that station or fill
up your pockets with cash.
Comments? Questions? E-mail
plastic_rap@bankrate.com.
Wednesday,
June 18
Posted
4 p.m.
Card debt per
borrower dips
TransUnion, one of the three
major credit bureaus, reported
today that the national average
credit card debt per borrower
dipped 1.25 percent in the first
quarter of 2008, from the previous
quarter. They also found that
delinquencies have declined.
The average credit card debt
is now $1,673 per borrower;
it was $1,694 in the fourth
quarter of 2007. Still, that's
up from where it was a year
ago at the same time: In the
first quarter of 2007, the average
was $1,584.
The highest increases were
in Alaska, Hawaii and Alabama.
The District of Columbia had
the greatest drop in its average
credit card debt.
Delinquencies declined across
the states, with North Dakota's
delinquency rate dropping by
27.2 percent from the previous
quarter.
How come people are paying
down their credit cards? I'm
just guessing here: Perhaps
this is their only line of credit
left and they can't afford to
lose it. I don't think the government
stimulus checks were in our
hands by the end of the first
quarter. Who knows -- maybe
next quarter the pay-down rate
will be even higher, thanks
to Uncle Sam.
Comments? Questions? E-mail
plastic_rap@bankrate.com.
Tuesday,
June 10
Posted
2 p.m.
Pay less for
gas with cash?
I've been hearing a lot about
gas stations that are charging
less for a gallon of gas if
you pay with cash rather than
a credit card. Colleagues at
work have been sharing information
about stations in our North
Palm Beach area that are doing
it; NPR mentioned it yesterday
on "All Things Considered."
Is it happening in your neighborhood?
I'd like to hear about it if
it is.
It makes sense for stations
-- or any business, for that
matter -- to do this, because
they pay Visa, MasterCard, American
Express or Discover every time
you swipe. According to the
Merchants Payments Coalition,
a group of retailers trying
to get these credit card interchange
or transaction fees reduced,
$2 of every $100 spent by the
consumer goes to the credit
card companies. American merchants
pay the highest interchange
fees in the world, primarily
because government intervention
has capped the fees elsewhere.
This group has appeared before
the House Judiciary Committee
Antitrust Task Force to ask
that fees be reduced, but we
know how long that kind of change
takes. Some of their arguments
include the fact (they say)
that Visa threatened some merchants
with fines for offering discounts
for cash transaction, although
technically it is not against
the merchant agreement.
If it isn't against the agreement,
I bet you'll see more merchants
offering cash discounts. I doubt
grocery stores could do it;
their margins are very slim
to begin with. But how about
if you're buying a refrigerator
at Sears? Do they have the option
to give the customer a break?
Comments? Questions? E-mail
plastic_rap@bankrate.com.
Monday,
June 9
Posted
2 p.m.
BofA wants
you to spend your rebate
My colleague Holden Lewis (who
writes the Mortgage
Matters blog) just forwarded
an e-mail he got from Bank of
America today encouraging him
to spend his rebate. Here's
the opening of the message:
You can finally make that
major purchase and be glad
you didn't wait. Use your
Bank of America WorldPoints
credit card to make the most
of your refund and purchase
that long overdue vacation
or a new flat-screen television.
I wrote last month about the
need to pay off credit card
debt with the tax rebate, and
many readers have said that
is what they will do with it
-- if there's anything left
over after paying for $4-plus
gas and groceries that increase
every week.
Last week Bankrate published
a story on the new "necessities"
-- expensive lifestyle accoutrements
that today people think are
necessities when truly they
are luxuries. There are lots
of TV spots lately about people
forgoing summer vacations because
gas, plane tickets, etc., are
expensive. We boomers here in
the office were talking about
summer vacation when we were
kids: It usually consisted of
a car drive to see our grandparents
for a week. The rest of the
summer we played outdoors or
hung around the community swimming
pool. Now it seems that a summer
vacation is one of those necessities.
Maybe it's time we take stock
of what is necessary in life?
Comments? Questions? E-mail
plastic_rap@bankrate.com.
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